Importance Score: 35 / 100 🔵
Yankees Suffer First Setback Against Diamondbacks
The New York Yankees experienced their first loss of the season, proving they will face challenges despite early season expectations of dominance. After sweeping the Brewers to commence the 2025 season, the Yankees succumbed to the Arizona Diamondbacks Tuesday night in The Bronx, relinquishing a late advantage in a 7-5 defeat. This game highlighted vulnerabilities despite their powerful offense.
Bullpen Collapse Costs Yankees Victory
Despite launching three home runs, the Yankees’ offense could not compensate for a shaky performance from their relief pitchers. A critical five-run eighth inning for Arizona sealed the Yankees’ fate.
Tasked with protecting a two-run lead, reliever Tim Hill struggled, paving the way for Mark Leiter Jr. Leiter then surrendered a decisive grand slam to Eugenio Suárez with two outs in the inning.
Eighth Inning Breakdown
The trouble began when Hill allowed a sharp double to pinch hitter Randal Grichuk.
Grichuk then scored on a Geraldo Perdomo single down the right field line, narrowing the Yankees’ lead to a single run.
Hill managed to field a comebacker from Corbin Carroll before being replaced by Leiter. Leiter walked the initial two batters he faced, loading the bases and bringing Josh Naylor, a familiar adversary from his Cleveland tenure, to the plate.
Leiter managed to strike out Naylor for the second out, offering a glimmer of hope.
However, Leiter’s 2-2 splitter, failing to find the intended low location, proved costly. Suárez capitalized, driving the pitch for his fifth home run in as many games, turning the tide for Arizona.
Yankees’ Power Display Not Enough
Prior to the bullpen issues, the Yankees had seized the lead partly due to two more home runs. They concluded the game with a Major League Baseball record of 18 home runs through just four games, underscoring their offensive power.
In the fourth inning, they initially took the lead capitalizing on an error by Naylor at first base. Despite this, they failed to extend their advantage, squandering a strong season debut from starting pitcher Will Warren, who only conceded two runs across five innings.
The Yankees’ offense pressured Arizona’s ace Corbin Burnes, forcing him to throw 98 pitches and exit the game after recording only one out in the fifth inning.
However, they struggled to solve Arizona’s bullpen, as four Diamondbacks relievers stifled the Yankees for 4 ²/₃ innings until Ben Rice’s solo home run with two outs in the bottom of the ninth provided a late consolation.
Early Innings Action
Remarkably, no runners reached base in the game until Perdomo, Arizona’s No. 9 hitter, walked on four pitches with two outs in the top of the third inning.
Carroll then followed with a two-run home run into the right-field seats, opening the scoring for Arizona.
The Yankees secured their first baserunner and run when Jasson Domínguez commenced the bottom of the inning with a home run to right-center field.
Rice followed with a double to the gap, and Oswaldo Cabrera walked, before Burnes regained composure to retire the subsequent batters in the lineup.
Warren encountered trouble in the fourth, walking the first two batters, but induced Suárez to hit into a double play and then got Gabriel Moreno to ground out, ending the threat.
Anthony Volpe equalized the score in the bottom of the fourth with his third home run of the season, a 418-foot shot into the visiting bullpen in left-center.
Error Aids Yankees’ Brief Lead
The Yankees then edged ahead later in the fourth, not through a powerful hit, but due to an error.
With runners on second and third and two outs, Cabrera grounded to first base, where Naylor’s flip to Burnes was errant.
The ball sailed past Burnes, allowing both Austin Wells and Domínguez to score, giving the Yankees a 4-2 lead.
Warren concluded his outing after five innings, navigating further pressure in his final inning.
With Jake McCarthy on second, following a leadoff walk, and two outs, the Yankees opted to keep Warren in the game to face Carroll once more.
Following a mound visit from pitching coach Matt Blake, Warren responded by striking out Carroll, preserving the two-run advantage at that juncture.
Fernando Cruz entered and contributed two scoreless innings, recording four strikeouts. However, the subsequent relievers were unable to secure the victory, resulting in the Yankees’ first defeat of the young season.